Hundreds of Nevada burros are off to find new homes

More than 400 burros gathered from public and private lands at locations close to U.S. 95 in Nye County now have a new place to call home.

On July 24, officials with the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, Tonopah Field Office concluded the 2018 Bullfrog Wild Burro Gather, where the BLM gathered and removed 404 wild burros from the Bullfrog Herd Management Area, located roughly 90 miles southeast of Tonopah.

Stated in a news release, BLM officials transported the wild burros to the Axtell Contract Off-Range Wild Horse and Burro Facility in Utah, where the animals will be prepped for the BLM’s wild horse and burro adoption program.

Unadopted wild burros, according to the release, will be placed in long-term pastures where they will be humanely cared for and retain their “wild” status and protection under the 1971 Wild-Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act.

The 2018 Bullfrog Wild Burro Gather began on July 10, 2018.

“The wild burros in the Bullfrog HMA have been determined to excess, impacting private lands and creating public health and safety issues as they travel near roadways,” the release noted. “The high number of burros has also resulted in degradation of the landscape and negative impacts to other plant and wildlife species that share the habitat.”

Regarding details of the gather, the news release stated that the operation utilized temporary water and bait traps consisting of a series of corral panels stocked with water and hay.

Additionally, no helicopters were used in the gather.

“Because of the nature of the bait and water trap method, wild burros are reluctant to approach the trap site, when there is too much activity, therefore only essential gather operations personnel will be allowed at the trap site during operations.”

As of March 1 of 2018, BLM officials noted that there were approximately 672 wild burros living in the Bullfrog HMA.

“The Appropriate Management Level (AML), is 55 to 91 wild burros,” the release stated. “The AML is the level at which wild horse populations are consistent with the land’s capacity to support them and other mandated uses of those lands, including protecting ecological processes and habitat for wildlife and livestock.”

Among the 404 burros gathered this month, 207 were males, 138 were females and 59 were foals.

Upon their arrival to the Utah facility, the burros were examined, vaccinated and dewormed by a veterinarian.

Following that process, BLM officials said the animals will be available for adoption to qualified homes.

For additional information about how to adopt a wild burro, visit www.blm.gov/whb.

Wild burros in the Bullfrog HMA were last gathered in September of 2015 from the town of Beatty, the BLM noted.

Contact reporter Selwyn Harris at sharris@pvtimes.com. On Twitter: @pvtimes.